a resort for the rank and file...

Here in the great city of Los Angeles, there is an ongoing battle between those who feel the only way to preserve parks is to open them to developers and activists who believe in park preservation without conditions.

When Griffith J. Griffith deeded property to the City of Los Angeles in December, 1896, he inserted certain provisions... that entry to the park be free and open to all citizens of Los Angeles, or as Griffith put it... "it must be made a place of rest and relaxation for the masses, a resort for the rank and file, for the plain people.”

While the park has grown substantially over the years from the approximately 3,000 acres in the original grant, to the nearly 4,500 acres today, the need to protect this urban wilderness has not abated. If anything, the need for protection is much greater today than it was years ago. Forest Lawn Cemetery's attempt to occupy even more land and the potentially-destructive Universal Evolution Project will greatly impact the park. On the northeast side, there is a potential for even more development as the Zoo and Autry Museum attempt to further expand.

According to Wikipedia, Griffith Park is the tenth largest municipal park in the United States, and the second largest in California. It's home to a variety of different species of animals including horned lizards, a variety of squirrels, deer, skunks, small fox, the occasional bobcat, rattlesnakes... as well as a variety of different fauna (some of which can be found nowhere else in the area, including the threatened manzanita and berberis plants). It's home to the Griffith Observatory and Greek Theater (both were dreams of Col. Griffith and were completed after his death). Even though the park is surrounded by various municipalities, it's remarkable that this island of wildlife continues to exist fairly peacefully with its neighbors.

As I write, there is an effort to inject billboards and cell towers into this park (as well as other area parks). This topic will be discussed in another posting, but should we add to the pile of garbage now in the park?

Anyone utilizing the park for any length of time will witness firsthand the debris left by various city entities (as well as park users). The LADWP is renowned for using (and discarding) the enormous water tanks scattered throughout the park... although the Rec & Parks department has done little if anything to force them to remove these remanents of the past.

I say it's time to take a stand, force those city entities to clean up after themselves and make this a better park... and stave off those who would like to privatize this and other parks where "the masses" relax and enjoy a respite from the city.


Kayaker on the Los Angeles River near the Los Feliz Bridge in Atwater, 2009.
This area of the river is just east of Griffith Park.
He came just at the end of the yearly river cleanup in Los Feliz.